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SAP SuccessFactors HCM vs Sage People comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 16, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Sage People
Ranking in Cloud HCM
25th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (25th), Talent Management (27th), HR Analytics Software (9th), Talent Acquisition (16th)
SAP SuccessFactors HCM
Ranking in Cloud HCM
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Spencer Gray - PeerSpot reviewer
People Advisor at Thomas International
Highly customizable, robust, and access to helpful online community
In my opinion, the performance management module of this system could use improvement as it falls behind compared to other specialized performance management platforms. While I understand that this system is not solely focused on performance management and is more of a generalist solution, it still lacks the capabilities and features that you can find in other specialized platforms. If we were to switch to a provider solely focused on performance management, we would have access to a wider range of features and capabilities that are not currently available in this system. Sage People offers a wide range of functions that meet most requirements. However, there is still room for improvement. One feature that I would like to see added is the ability to detect and address any failures in the custom processes or functions built within the system. I would like to see a tool that can automatically sense and identify any issues in the system. Currently, when something goes wrong, it's not always immediately obvious and requires a lot of manual troubleshooting. It would be helpful if there was an error message that clearly explained why the system is failing. This would speed up the investigation process and make it ten times faster.
MS
Enterprise Architecht at RS Group plc
Increased onboarding efficiency and enhanced user engagement with comprehensive performance management
All features have been valuable, particularly as we are investigating whether to connect it with Talent Management. Currently, we have a solution with Degree, and we are considering moving it to SAP Talent Management. This would provide a single location to house everything, allowing all employees to use the same platform rather than two separate platforms. This also reduces integration expense and management costs. Different stakeholders benefit from various aspects of the interface and dashboards. Managers can examine their team members' skill sets. From an employee perspective, they can track their progress and match it with their objectives and goals. From an organizational perspective, we can maintain a comprehensive view when considering upskilling or other resource-related decisions. The dashboards are highly effective. The employee experience management tools have had a very positive impact on employee satisfaction and well-being within our organization.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The reporting features are also very valuable because, on top of 300+ reports available on the system, you can also customize quite a number of reports."
"The report builder and dashboard builder are very, very good."
"The most valuable features of Sage People are the reports that are useful for decision-making and the API that can be integrated well. Additionally, the solution can be accessed from mobile devices onto the cloud."
"The most valuable feature of Sage People is the integration with our payroll system."
"The solution's initial setup was straightforward."
"The solution provides the ability to trace back records, is reliable, makes life easy, and is secure."
"I guess I would say maybe that it is a more robust system."
"The solution is beneficial overall."
"The feature I appreciate the most about this solution is the integration with SAP S/4HANA system."
"SAP SuccessFactors HCM has positively impacted my customer's environment by ensuring they are digital; we promote using DocuSign for document signing and ensuring effective onboarding, and post-implementation we provide hyper-care and digital adoption reports after six months or a year to show how much more paperless and workflow-enabled their organization has become after SAP SuccessFactors HCM implementation."
"The employee experience management tools have had a very positive impact on employee satisfaction and well-being within our organization."
"Using SAP SuccessFactors HCM analytics and insights helps my customers in data-driven decision-making."
"The SAP SuccessFactors HCM tool is a fantastic platform to work with, offering end-to-end employee lifecycle coverage."
 

Cons

"Its technical support could have been better."
"The integration with our payroll system could improve. However, it is managed by another company."
"The user interface is not great."
"If Sage People were to become a fully cloud-based solution, it could lead to significant improvements. With the COVID pandemic highlighting the benefits of remote work, a complete shift to cloud-based functionality would be a welcome development for users."
"In my opinion, the performance management module of this system could use improvement as it falls behind compared to other specialized performance management platforms."
"Its stability could be better."
"Right now, Sage doesn't seem to have what we are looking for when it comes to managing HR tickets. In my previous experiences with other HR software, we had to buy another solution to obtain this functionality, and it would be a great feature for Sage to consider adding. For an HR system, Sage would do very well to include it."
"There were a couple of things that we wanted to customize, but we couldn’t do it ourselves."
"It is very difficult to purchase SAP SuccessFactors HCM over here for smaller or medium-sized organizations, mainly because of the price."
"The SAP SuccessFactors HCM has room for improvement in terms of product development nimbleness. Additionally, the speed of the application platform occasionally reduces, primarily due to data center related issues."
"The pricing of the solution is very high concerning pricing, setup cost, and licensing of this tool."
"The main area for improvement would be implementing a better pricing model. It is expensive, and with people discussing Workday more frequently, SAP needs to compete by becoming more free-flowing and dynamic compared to traditional SAP systems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I believe we pay licensing on a yearly basis, but I can't comment on the total amount that we pay on licensing."
"We have to purchase the solution's license to use it."
"There is other software on the market that can do similar functions to Sage People that could be better in price. Some solution allows you to do your payroll processes by month or by the process. Small companies could benefit by using another solution."
"From an SME standpoint, I wouldn't necessarily describe it as expensive. However, for the average startup, it may not be affordable since our current annual expenditure on the system, which supports approximately 210-220 users, amounts to approximately £15,000 to £18,000."
"The cost of Sage People varies depending on the financial resources of the organization. While it may be affordable for middle-level companies, it may be more challenging for young companies to bear the cost."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"I think it's reasonably priced. But in comparison to other systems, I would choose them over Sage People, regardless of their prices."
"Its cost is moderate for a multi-group licensing model."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
18%
Government
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise6
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP SuccessFactors HCM?
The pricing of SAP SuccessFactors HCM is a bit expensive; its HCM without SuccessFactors was reasonable when it was on-site, but SuccessFactors is very expensive. On-premise HCM was good regarding ...
What needs improvement with SAP SuccessFactors HCM?
Pakistani policies need most of the customizations for SAP SuccessFactors HCM. I don't think Pakistanis should improve; our systems are not right. We should improve, not SAP. There should be some a...
What is your primary use case for SAP SuccessFactors HCM?
I researched SAP SuccessFactors HCM products on your website. I was the project manager for the implementation of SAP SuccessFactors HCM in my university. The implementation partner was Telemarks. ...
 

Also Known As

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Rocketship Education, Monitise, u-blox, SolarWinds, Mitsubishi, SmartStream, Canonical, Betfair
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Find out what your peers are saying about SAP SuccessFactors HCM vs. Sage People and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.